The competition, which will see a new piece of public art installed in Eastside, includes artists who have created a 'Battenburg Cake' made from bricks and singing psychologically charged soundscapes.

The selection panel was made up of national art commissioners and curators and Birmingham planners, head of collections and artist-curators and organisers said they were struck by the vitality and originality of the five proposals.

Gavin Wade, chairman of the selection panel and director of art space Eastside Projects, said: "We feel very strongly we have some important ideas and approaches to making an artwork like no other in the world.

"We believe each of the five could create an artwork as a new destination point in Birmingham and the whole group are excited about the next stage of the artists developing their ideas to be shared with the public.

"We can't wait for the whole of Birmingham to start imagining how these challenging new artworks will come to life."

The Birmingham Big Art Project was established by Birmingham Civic Society to mark its centenary celebrations to create a lasting piece of permanent public art for the city.

It will be erected on a parcel of land next to the main entrance to Eastside City Park and near the new HS2 Curzon Street station and a final recommendation on the winner will be announced early next year.

The five shortlisted artists are:

Brian Griffiths

Mr Griffiths was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and now lives and works in London. Guardian Critic Jonathan Jones has described Griffiths' work as having a touch of magic to it. Some of Griffiths' sculptures are really kitsch and playful and 'Battenberg' was an oversized sculpture made up of multi-coloured house bricks to look like the cake.

Heather and Ivan Morison

Collaborative duo Heather and Ivan Morison lived in Birmingham between 2000 and 2006. They now live in Herefordshire and also own a wood in West Wales where they nurture, construct and grow their mythical artworks. An example of their work is 'Sleepers Awake' whereby they raised a 'second moon' into the air made up of a large, internally lit helium balloon.

Keith Wilson

Born in Birmingham, and now living in Sheffield, Mr Wilson has exhibited widely across the UK and his sculptural works are held in world-class collections such as the Saatchi Collection and Leeds City Art Gallery. One of Wilson's highest profile commissions was 'Steles (Waterworks)'. Studded along the Waterworks River, in the water itself, are 35 pillars of varying lengths, their shape modelled on giant wax crayons and their colours based on those of the Olympic rings.

Susan Philipsz

The Glasgow born 2010 Turner Prize winner is now based in Berlin. She is best known for making sculpture that primarily uses sound. As an untrained singer, the artist uses her own voice, and others, within her work. 'Part File Score' was shown at Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin and featured a number of large screen prints of musical scores alongside an installation of 24 speakers playing individual notes

Roger Hiorns

Born in Birmingham, Mr Hiorns studied fine art in the city before continuing his education in London. Using 75,000 litres of coppersulphate solution, Mr Hiorns converted the interior of a council flat on an estate into a wonderland of blue crystals, called 'Seizure. It was so popular with visitors that its original three-month duration was extended by a further six months.